Thread: Great racing cars from the past

Originally Posted by Cobber

I wasn't alive in the 50's but it (and the 60's to an extent) really was the ultimate era for motor racing

My favourite for Grand Prix racing was the pre-war years, however this was very much a two horse race with Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, at during the 1930's

Cobber, here are some nice pics of the 1938 awesome Auto Union with an supercharged 3.0 litre V12 engine, 420hp at 7,000 rpm.
It won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Donnington Grand Prix back in 1938.

Just to stir it up a little, how about the McLaren MP4/4. 15 race wins from a possible 16, aside the fact it looks pretty good too.

I guess that being 1988 it is reasonable contemporary car and for that reason we did not mentioned it

Perhaps this vintage Mc Laren roadster will qualify

I suppose it depends how you want to qualify 'great racing cars from the past'.

In terms of race victories to events entered, and still being a recognisable car the MP4/4 qualifies, whilst the Williams FW14B also deserves a mention as it was pretty much the most advanced car of its time, exploiting all the technology available and winning lots too.
Also quite distinctive to look at.



Or if you insist on something without wings, how about the Lotus 49?

There are great cars as well, my comment was because we posted cars that were in the races more than 40 years ago and I have a lot of admiration for the the cars that you have posted and not to mention the Peugeot's, Audie's, Porsche's that have raced in the 24 hrs Le Mans.
Keep posting mate, I like them and like to share histories about racing as well

Hi I love the group "B" rally cars the next best was Possum Bourne in his group "A" Subaru Impreza. I'm off to the Goodwood revival in September .A guy in Brisbane has done a reproduction of a Maserati 250F running a skyline engine ,i saw it at Mt Cotton Hill Climb a couple of years ago,sound and looks fantastic.

Originally Posted by disco63

Hi I love the group "B" rally cars the next best was Possum Bourne in his group "A" Subaru Impreza. I'm off to the Goodwood revival in September .A guy in Brisbane has done a reproduction of a Maserati 250F running a skyline engine ,i saw it at Mt Cotton Hill Climb a couple of years ago,sound and looks fantastic.

There is one manufacturer of replicas in UK that install them a BMW engine

Originally Posted by Tank

In 1966 the 3 Ford Gt40"s that crossed the line in 1,2 and 3 were 427 engined cars, previous years had been failures with the 289, Carrol Shelby fitted the 427's which were designed for and raced in NASCAR, 500 production cars with 427's were sold to the public in full size Fords Galaxies, for homlogatition, Ford sold many more than the required 500, unlike Mopar who didn't have to comply with the 500 Homlogation rules. They were also available in early Ford Fairlaines (Thunderbolt) and Factory drag (later) fairlaines, Regards Frank.

my point was the 427 not winning 4 years in a row. I just checked my book, 66 and 67 = 427, 68 and 69 = 302. The 289 did very well over the years at many races. The 427 may have ended up in production cars, as they had to, but the designers had motivation from the racing world. No doubt a great car and great engine that were a formidable combination.